Marlon Brando

Maybe it's because, when I was 12, I burned my ankle on the tailpipe of my cousin's cycle — and that was only a dirt bike. But the memory has been hard to shake.

Although you won't catch me riding one, I appreciate the romance of Marlon Brando roaring through some old town on his vintage Triumph in "The Wild Ones" movie. And one of my favorite folk songs ever is Richard Thompson's "1952 Vincent Black Lightning," a tale of love, motorcycles, crime and death. Listening to that tale of woe isn't likely to make you want to hop on a chopper, either.

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